Past Albert Gallatin Lectures
Spring 2009 Lecture:
“Why Quality Journalism Matters” with Jill Abramson
On Tuesday, February 10 at the Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts Jill Abramson discussed why rigorous reporting is crucial to the maintenance of an informed, civil society, and how The New York Times has adapted and maintained its standards in a rapidly changing industry.
Presented by the Albert Gallatin Lectures Student Committee.
Jill Abramson is Managing Editor of The New York Times. Until 2003 she served as Washington bureau chief. She joined the newspaper in 1997. Previously, she was an editor and investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal. She is a graduate of Harvard College and co-author of two books, Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas and Where They Are Now.
“Filming Science” With Peter Galison and Robb Moss
On Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at the Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts Peter Galison and Robb Moss discussed their collaboration and the powerful cross-currents between science and other fields.
Presented by the Albert Gallatin Lectures Student Committee.
Peter Galison is a professor of the History of Science and of Physics at Harvard University. A Pfizer Award winner in 1998, his books include How Experiments End (1987), Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps(2003), and most recently, Objectivity (with L. Daston, 2007). His film on the moral-political debates over the hydrogen bomb, “Ultimate Weapon: The H-bomb Dilemma” has been shown frequently on the History Channel and is widely used in courses and seminars around the world.
Robb Moss has taught filmmaking at Harvard University for the past twenty years. As a cinematographer he has shot films in Ethiopia, Hungary, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, and Turkey, on such subjects as famine and genocide. He has served on the documentary jury at the Sundance Film Festival and has thrice served as a creative advisor for the Sundance Institute documentary labs. His film, “The Same River Twice,” premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for a 2004 Independent Spirit award.
An Evening with James Schamus
CEO of Focus Features
On March 12, 2008 the Lectures featured James Schamus. He is CEO of Focus Features, a motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company committed to bringing moviegoers the most original stories from the world's most innovative filmmakers. An integral contributor to the American independent film business for more than a decade, Mr. Schamus has the unique distinction of being an award-winning screenwriter and producer who is also a film executive. He has had a long collaboration with Ang Lee as writer and producer on 10 feature films, such as Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Other celebrated Focus Features releases include The Pianist, Lost in Translation, The Constant Gardener, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Mr. Schamus is also an associate professor in Columbia University's School of the Arts.
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Defending Rights without Courts and Judges: War Stories from around the World and Our Backyard
On December 11, 2007 the Lectures featured Kenneth Roth. In his role as executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993, Roth has conducted human rights investigations around the globe and has written more than 80 articles and chapters on a range of human rights topics. Mr. Roth has devoted special attention to issues of justice and accountability for gross abuses of human rights, standards governing military conduct in time of war, the human rights policies of the United States and United Nations, and the human rights responsibilities of multinational businesses. Under his leadership, Human Rights Watch has quadrupled in size and greatly expanded its geographic reach; investigating, reporting on, and seeking to curb human rights abuses in over 70 countries.
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An Evening with Sally Field
The Albert Gallatin Lectures proudly presented An Evening with Sally Field on Monday, April 16, 2007. An award-winning actress, Ms. Field spoke to students, faculty, alumni, and community members about her evolving 43-year career in television, film, and the theater. Participants enjoyed a Q & A session and reception following the lecture.
Sally Field is a two-time Academy Award winner for performances in Places in the Heart, for which she also received a Golden Globe, and Norma Rae, for which she received a Golden Globe, New York Film Critics prize, and Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, among other honors. Field has also received Golden Globe nominations for her work in Smokey and the Bandit, Absence of Malice, Kiss Me Goodbye, Steel Magnolias and Forrest Gump.
A prolific film and television star, Field began her career on the TV series Gidget. She has received Emmy Awards for her title role in the landmark miniseries Sybil, and for her performances on ER and the NBC miniseries A Woman of Independent Means, which she co-produced and for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination. In 2002, Field made her Broadway debut in Edward Albee’s The Goat, and in 2004 received rave reviews for her role as Amanda in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie at The Kennedy Center. Currently, Field costars in the ABC series Brothers & Sisters.
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OurSpace: DIY Media and the Future of Democracy with Antonino D’Ambrosio
The second installment of the Albert Gallatin Lectures brought author, filmmaker, and activist Antonino D’Ambrosio to NYU in the fall of 2006. His lecture, “OurSpace: DIY Media and the Future of Democracy,” took place on November 9 at the Kimmel Center for University Life.
D’Ambrosio discussed the role that media plays in today’s world and how globalization has posed a challenge to American politics, with the citizens now having access to more information than ever before—and being able to use this information to their advantage. In touching on the various ways in which social movements can promote change, D’Ambrosio, who is the author of Let Fury have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer, examined social movements in recent history, even describing how the 80s punk rock group The Clash used music as a tool to articulate their rebellion against the government.
D’Ambrosio is the founder of the La Lutta New Media Collective, a nonprofit media production group, which The Nation selected as one of the top 50 independent media groups in the country. His writing appears in The Nation, Monthly Review, and The Progressive; his upcoming books are Politics in the Drums: A People’s History of Political Popular Culture from 1960 to the Present and A Gang of Their Own: 25 Years of Mayhem, Madness, and Movies. Sony Pictures has optioned the feature film rights to Let Fury Have the Hour, and D’Ambrosio is set to direct a documentary based on the book, to be produced by Tim Robbins.
Do Movies Have a Future? with David Denby
The first lecture in the series took place on February 2, 2006, and featured New Yorker film critic and author David Denby, whose topic, “Do Movies Have a Future?” proved to be quite provocative. Denby spoke about Hollywood’s tendency to create blockbuster action movies directed towards a diminishing audience of 12 to 25-year-old males, and also offered insights into how the film industry might create more lower-budget, emotionally-driven films (such as the recently lauded Brokeback Mountain and Capote) and regain audiences. Denby spoke before a standing-room-only crowd at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life, and attendees later mentioned that they appreciated not only his thoughts on the business side of the film industry, but also his candid and witty demeanor.
